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July 5, 2012

ughhh. That first day back from vacation is such a wash of a day. Mentally and physically exhausted from the 12+ hour drive home and definitely zoned out for the entirety of the day. Needless to say my workout did NOT happen, but I have a chance to make it up to you guys tomorrow. Body pump at (gulp) 5:45 am is callin my name and despite my legs feeling like jello today, I know I’ll feel amazing after I go.

And remember that workout plan of running intervals on the treadmill? Yeaaaaah, that didn’t happen either 😦 We had early AM breakfast plans the entirety we were out and there was very little free time for workouts. But there was a lot of walking in the record breaking triple digit heat we had all week. We even stood for an entire baseball game in the shade instead of sitting in our seats it was so hot.

But of course, the trip had its high points:

Food: I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but I managed to do fairly well with my food options all week. The baseball stadium had a Vegan chicken patty, that was expensive, but nice to have something I could eat, especially so close to our seats. However, I can happily go a few weeks without touching another french fry…sheesh. The rest of my meals consisted of the typical veggie wraps and salads, with the ever present surprised look on the waiters face when I ask for no cheese, no mayo, etc. Although, I will say that no matter how surprised they thought my requests, everyone I met was gracious and accommodating. Breakfasts were usually oatmeal with some dried fruit and pb swirled in and two of the nights we went to dinner with some amazing family friends, once at the Casino Queen (where last time my veggies were literally swimming in butter) and once at their house (where my broccoli was swimming in cheese). This time around my friends went out of their way to grill some portobella mushrooms for me and make sure I had a plate to rival the rest of the guests and the casino was happy to steam my veggies for me when they could (I NEVER thought steamed broccoli would be so glorious, don’t tell my 10 year old past self…). I’m learning to be a lot more flexible with things and reminding myself that i’m not identifying as a vegan and that while I certainly avoid dairy when possible, I’m not going to go and make mountains out of mole hills. So no, my meals weren’t all Vegan, but they were as healthy as I could make them and I got the added bonus of enjoying my host’s hospitality without worrying too much about the little things. In the grand scheme of thing a sprinkling of parm cheese on the plate, really not a big deal.

workouts: I told you already that any ideas of making it to the gym were dashed by our pretty packed schedule. The, ahem, National Personal Trainers conference being held at our hotel didn’t really help matters anyhow. I”m still getting over the “everyone is staring at me” and “i’m not doing as much the next person is” syndrome that used to prevent me from going to classes, the gym or really working out to my potential. While I’ve gotten A LOT better at this, something about running on a treadmill next to a group of personal trainers didn’t seem altogether appealing… 🙂 HOWEVER, we did manage to get in not one, but TWO bike rides while we were out there, so our drive was well worth it (we had to drive, in order to take the bikes). Our first trip was supposed to be a simple and short little ride that turned into a little over 15 miles in the dead heat of the day. The thing about the trails in St. Louis is that there is VERY little tree cover, so most of our rides were in the open sunlight. Despite the longer than intended ride, I did manage to push past the fears of riding on the road and spent a good half of the first trail doing just that, enjoying the farms and small town views.

Our second ride of the trip was a 25 mile ride from a town just outside of St. Louis down to the arch. Even though this is generally considered a shorter ride for us, I was glad we hadn’t planned for anything much longer than that. A lot of open sunlight, but beautiful views alongside the river. We pedaled along with a river barge for awhile, saw some wildlife, the Lewis & Clark Expedition building and a lot of the industrial side of St. Louis. I’m a big fan of industrial buildings, how they look, etc., especially when they’re older – so I really enjoyed it, despite it being a major deviation from the types of trails we usually ride. Of course, riding to the base of this beautiful structure was a pretty awesome deviation from our typical trails too 🙂

please excuse the whiteness of my legs. Despite being out in the sun all week, I was slathered in what appears to be spf ghost. And how dorky my helmet looks…but that one is a non-compromise!

A few other highlights of the trip? Five baseball games and grabbing two more charms for my charm bracelet, my mom gave me her old one from when she was my age and I’d like to do the same someday. There was some wandering through antique shops, spending a mesmerizing hour at a glass blowing gallery (ps – a hand blown glass sink and faucet? To diiiieeeee forrrrr) and despite entering the city with two books (which I finished!) and may or may not have left with 7 MORE books…ooops. 😀

And now, vacay is over and its time to settle back into a routine and count down the days until its time to do something fun again 🙂 Did everyone have a wonderful 4th of July? Even though I spent mine driving, I still managed a veggie dog with some mustard and sauerkraut (am I German or WHAT?) and a beer at the end of the day. Satisfaction, indeed.